Fire blanket pack

ABSTRACT

A fire-blanket pack comprising a fire-resistant blanket inside a polygonally-shaped closed container or bag. The latter is openable along one edge which has strip means provided with apertures attached thereto. The strip means have releasable snapfastening means closing the container along said one edge. The blanket has handling tapes sewn to it at spaced locations close to one edge thereof so as to project obliquely from the blanket and extend through said apertures externally of the bag or container. The externally projecting portions of the tape are pullable to open the container along said one edge and release the fire-resistant blanket.

United States Patent [191 Wallis [451 Aug. 13, 1974 [5 1 FIRE BLANKET PACK [76] Inventor: Norman William Henry Wallis, Old

Preston House, Dorset, England [22] Filed: July 31, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 276,406

[52] US. Cl. 169/50, 206/527 [51] Int. Cl. 'A62c 7/00 [58] Field of Search 206/46 R, 46 RP; 150/3, 150/52 E, 52 R; 169/1 R, 50

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,358,133 11/1920 Applegate 150/52 E 1,724,799 8/1929 Jensen 150/52 E 2,183,113 12/1939 Bennett 169/1 R 2,344,010 3/1944 Walsh 150/3 2,720,269 10/1955 Diacos 169/1 R 2,746,502 5/1956 Graell 150/3 3,712,568 l/l973 Grasso et a1. 206/78 B FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 340,172

12/1930 Great Britain 169/1 R Primary ExaminerWilliam T. Dixson, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-McClew and Tuttle [5 7] ABSTRACT A fire-blanket pack comprising a fire-resistant blanket inside a polygonally-shaped closed container or bag. The latter is openable along one edge which has strip means provided with apertures attached thereto. The strip means have releasable snap-fastening means closing the container along said one edge. The blanket has handling tapes sewn to it at spaced locations close to one edge thereof so as to project obliquely from the blanket and extend through said apertures externally of the bag or container. The externally projecting portions of the tape are pullable to open the container along said one edge and release the fire-resistant blanket.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FIRE BLANKET PACK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a fire-blanket pack. Many fire-blanket packs are already known, but few so far have both the form or cheap cost which would make them acceptable for use in a normal household.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aim of a fire-blanket pack is to provide a fireblanket in a convenient, visually acceptable form, the blanket being folded or rolled but readily available for use.

Accordingly, the invention provides a fireblanket pack comprising a bag, openable closure means closing said bag, a fire-resistant blanket within the bag, handling attachments for the blanket and means mounting the attachments to the blanket for passage through and externally of the bag, said passage through beingat least adjacent said openable closure means, and said handling attachments being pullable to effect opening ofsaid closure means and release of the blanket from the bag.

The openable closure means may be reclosable, or may be simply a line of weakness such as a perforation.

Preferably the bag incorporates means which allow it to be hung by the end opposite the openable closure means, and has instructions either printed on it or printed on a paper .or card contained in or on the bag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In order that the invention should be clearly understood, an exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing. In the drawing,

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the fire-blanket pack;

FIG. 2 shows a section on the line II -II inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the fire-blanket with fold lines; and

FIG. 4 shows the blanket held ready for. use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pack comprises a square transparent plastic bag of suitable strength, which is sealed around three edges and which has opening means in the form of a plastic, snap-closure strip 11 along its fourth edge. The bag has an eyelet 12at the end opposite the closure means which enable it to be hung up to use when required.

Within the bag 10 is a fire-blanket-l3 of fire-resistant material which is folded so as to fit conveniently into the bag. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the blanket 13 has handling attachments l5 fixed to it, the attachments being tapes of flexible material each with a ring 16 at its end. The blanket I3 is folded in such a way that the tapes emerge from one side and pass through gaps 17 formed in the snap closure strip 11. Thus, when the blanket is within the bag and the closure strip 11 is shut, the tapes and rings hang outside the bag.

In order to obtain the fire-blanket ready for use, the handling attachments are pulled downwards, thus forcing the closure strip 11 open. With continued downward force, the blanket itself then bears upon the now partly open closure strip and causes the whole bottom edge of the pack to open and release the blanket.

This is folded in such a way that it falls fully open in front of the operator who retains his hold on the handling attachments. In this way, complete safety is afforded to the operator whose hands and fingers remain behind the blanket relative to the fire to be extinguished (see FIG. 4).

The blanket itself shown in FIG. 3 for normal home use is about 1 yard sq. and is folded in sequence on the lines F1, F2, F3 and F4 to produce a substantially square unit. The tapes are sewn slightly within the outline of the blanket so that when they are held, the edge of the blanket provides protection for the hands holding them. In addition, they are sewn in the oblique positions shown in order that when folded, they emerge at opposite angles as shown in FIG. 1. This has the advantage that when the tapes are pulled, they exert a wedging action on the closure strip 11 in order to open it.

The blanket may be any suitable fire-resistant material. Possibilities are asbestos, wool, glass fibre or leather. It is preferred to use a lighter, less bulky material and glass fibre appears the most suitable. It must be borne in mind that the blanket must still be stiff enough not to sag into, for example, a saucepan or burning fat. Use of a material such as wool or glass fibre also means that even after use in extinguishing a fire, the blanket can be washed and replaced in its bag.

The closure strip 11 can also be of any convenient kind. Many forms of peg and socket closures are known which can be conveniently moulded in plastics material, including press studs. Also key and slot forms can be used. It would also be possible to use the fabric closure known under the trade mark VELCRO."

The bag is preferably, but not necessarily transparent. This enables the contents to be seen to be available and in good order. Although shown, square, the bag may be any other desired shape.

If wanted for industrial or commercial use, a blanket of different shape or size, and folded in any desired way, may be used.

In another, form of the invention, a separate closure means is dispensed with. The blanket is simply enclosed in a bag of suitable shape which is sealed all round. The handling attachments are arranged to emerge from the sealed bag at a line of weakness, perforation or tear strip. The line of weakness may even be derived from an incomplete seam along one edge of the bag.

In this case, pulling the attachments causes the bag to be torn open so as to release the blanket ready for use. The bag cannot then, of course, be re-used.

It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations.

What is claimed is:

1. A fire-blanket pack comprising a bag, openable closure means closing said bag, a fire-resistant blanket within the bag, handling attachments for the blanket and means mounting the attachments to the blanket for passage through and externally of the bag, said passage through being at least adjacent said openable closure means, and said handling attachments being in the form of strips of material sewn to the blanket at laterally spaced points displaced from an edge of the blanket by a predetermined specific distance of the order of a hands breadth, and being pullable to effect opening of said closure means and release of the blanket from the bag in readiness for hand-protected use.

2. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 1, wherein the openable closure means is constituted by a line of weakness in the bag.

3. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 1, wherein the openable closure means is reclosable.

4. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 3, wherein said closure means comprise a strip of plastics material extending across an edge of the bag, the strip being formed with snap closures and apertures for receiving said handling attachments.

5. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 1, wherein said handling attachments project from the blanket at an oblique angle.

6. A fire-blanket pack comprising a polygonally shaped closed container openable along one edge; strip means provided with apertures attached to said one edge, the strip means having releasable snap-fastening means closing the container along said one edge; a fireresistant blanket within the closed container; handling tapes sewn to the blanket at laterally spaced locations displaced from one edge thereof by a short distance providing a width of blanket material between the loca-' tions and said one edge of the blanket sufficient to cover the hands of a user, said handling tapes being sewn to the blanket such as to project obliquely from said one edge thereof and extend through said apertures so as to be pullable from outside the container for opening the v container along said one edge thereof to 4 release the fire-resistant blanket in readiness for handprotected use. I

7. A fire-blanket pack comprising a bag of rectangular outline, releasable stud-and-hole closure means at speed intervals along one edge of said bag, a fireresistant blanket of rectangular outline folded in four along two mutually perpendicular fold lines into a folded state within said bag for removal therefrom with one edge thereof leading and manipulation to an unfolded state, two handling tapes sewn to the blanket at locations spaced from one another by a first distance less than the blanket width andspaced from said one edge of the blanket by a second shorter distance providing sufficient blanket material between each location and said one edge of the blanket to protect a man s hand, said tapes being sewn to the blanket at said locations for extension parallel to one another at an oblique angle to said one edge of the blanket in its unfolded state and to extend in opposite directions from said one edge of the blanket in its folded state within said bag, said two tapes themselves projecting externally of the bag between said spaced closure means so as to be pullable from outside the bag thereby in one operation to cause a parting of said stud-and-hole closure means effecting release of the fire-resistant blanket from the bag and its simultaneous transition to the unfolded state in readiness for immediate hand-protected use.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. Dated August 13, 1974 Inventor) Norman William Henry Wallis It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Convention priority of the corresponding British patent application No. 35962/71 of July 30, 1971 is claimed.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of May 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Arresting Officer and Trademarks USCOMM'DC 60375-P69 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 2 19! 0-35G-33l FORM F'O-1050 (10-69) 

1. A fire-blanket pack comprising a bag, openable closure means closing said bag, a fire-resistant blanket within the bag, handling attachments for the blanket and means mounting the attachments to the blanket for passage through and externally of the bag, said passage through being at least adjacent said openable closure means, and said handling attachments being in the form of strips of material sewn to the blanket at laterally spaced points displaced from an edge of the blanket by a predetermined specific distance of the order of a hand''s breadth, and being pullable to effect opening of said closure means and release of the blanket from the bag in readiness for handprotected use.
 2. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 1, wherein the openable closure means is constituted by a line of weakness in the bag.
 3. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 1, wherein the openable closure means is reclosable.
 4. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 3, wherein said closUre means comprise a strip of plastics material extending across an edge of the bag, the strip being formed with snap closures and apertures for receiving said handling attachments.
 5. A fire-blanket pack according to claim 1, wherein said handling attachments project from the blanket at an oblique angle.
 6. A fire-blanket pack comprising a polygonally shaped closed container openable along one edge; strip means provided with apertures attached to said one edge, the strip means having releasable snap-fastening means closing the container along said one edge; a fire-resistant blanket within the closed container; handling tapes sewn to the blanket at laterally spaced locations displaced from one edge thereof by a short distance providing a width of blanket material between the locations and said one edge of the blanket sufficient to cover the hands of a user, said handling tapes being sewn to the blanket such as to project obliquely from said one edge thereof and extend through said apertures so as to be pullable from outside the container for opening the container along said one edge thereof to release the fire-resistant blanket in readiness for hand-protected use.
 7. A fire-blanket pack comprising a bag of rectangular outline, releasable stud-and-hole closure means at speed intervals along one edge of said bag, a fire-resistant blanket of rectangular outline folded in four along two mutually perpendicular fold lines into a folded state within said bag for removal therefrom with one edge thereof leading and manipulation to an unfolded state, two handling tapes sewn to the blanket at locations spaced from one another by a first distance less than the blanket width and spaced from said one edge of the blanket by a second shorter distance providing sufficient blanket material between each location and said one edge of the blanket to protect a man''s hand, said tapes being sewn to the blanket at said locations for extension parallel to one another at an oblique angle to said one edge of the blanket in its unfolded state and to extend in opposite directions from said one edge of the blanket in its folded state within said bag, said two tapes themselves projecting externally of the bag between said spaced closure means so as to be pullable from outside the bag thereby in one operation to cause a parting of said stud-and-hole closure means effecting release of the fire-resistant blanket from the bag and its simultaneous transition to the unfolded state in readiness for immediate hand-protected use. 